The Hard Drive “Freezer” Myth

Myth: Freezing (or heating) my hard drive can bring it back to life.

Putting your hard drive in a freezer or heating it with a hairdryer are two common “Internet Fixes” to repair a bad hard drive. While they both have a very slight chance of working, they are much more likely to cause serious damage. We get a previously “frozen” hard drive that is too damaged to be recovered monthly. If your data is worth at least three hundred dollars, freezing or heating your hard drive should never be attempted.

There are a few theories behind the hard drive freezer myth and the heating myth. Some people say the temperature change from hot to cold or cold to hot will expand the metal inside the hard drive (in particular, the spindle/motor) and allow a non-spinning drive to spin again. Other people say that freezing will cool down a drive with a problem overheating.

Even if freezing allows a drive to spin again, it will only be momentarily (often only a few minutes) and will not work repeatedly. This will typically not be enough time to recover all your important data, and subsequent attempts will last even less time (if they work at all).

When “freezing” a hard drive, the platters are filled with condensation. These platters must remain perfectly “pure” for the magnetic data to be read off them. The circuit board (PCB) on the bottom of the drive, which is filled with electronic components, will get wet from the condensation, and its electronics can quickly become damaged once the drive is powered on. There is no question that the chances for a successful $300 Data Recovery greatly decrease after a drive has been in a freezer.

Here is a look at the top platter of a hard drive that was in a freezer for 1 hour (if you can’t tell, this looks bad!):

If the hard drive has “heat” issues (which alone is extremely rare), they’re almost always caused by a faulty PCB, which we have a 95%+ success rate recovering data from. Solving “heat” issues using a freezer is like pulling out a bad tooth with a rocket. It may work, but more reliable and safer methods exist to recover your data.

In conclusion, the hard drive freezer myth should only be used as a last resort if you simply cannot afford $300 for your recovered data or if your data isn’t worth $300. Even then, the chances of it working are minuscule, and it will further damage the hard drive.

Still not convinced? Read this PCWorld article.